Police identify victims in Interstate 81 crash

WATERTOWN — State police identified the person who died in a crash Sunday afternoon on Interstate 81 that also left four others injured.

Karine Rabay, 14, Ottawa, Ontario, was killed when she was a passenger in a northbound SUV that lost control on a slight curve and drove across the lane before ending up on the west shoulder of the roadway, police said. She was ejected from the 2010 Toyota Sequoia and pronounced dead at the scene.

The vehicle, driven by Joseph M. Rabay, 50, also of Ottawa, then struck a guardrail, overturned down a steep embankment and came to rest upright in the median, state police said.

Two other passengers, Colette Rabay, 44, and Joelle Rabay, 9, were flown to Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. A front-seat passenger, Salwa Rabay, 77, along with the driver, also were taken to the Syracuse hospital, where they were treated and released.

The investigation into the accident’s cause is continuing.

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